Justin Vivian Bond will be the Grand Marshal of the 2017 OutHudson Parade!

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!

Justin Vivian Bond will be the Grand Marshal or – as they prefer, Grand Marsha – of this year’s OutHudson Parade. The title honors Marsha P. Johnson, the transwoman of color who threw the first brick during The Stonewall Riots, one of the many reasons we celebrate Pride in June. There is no better spokes person than this staggeringly talented individual. Mx Bond is an inspiration to us all.

HUDSON, NY: OutHudson, an organization with a mission for the advancement of LBGTQ awareness in Columbia County, NY, announced today the Grand Marshall of its annual LGBTQ+ Pride Parade. Justin Vivian Bond, well-known “trans-genre” artist, has agreed to march down Hudson’s main thoroughfare, Warren Street, starting at 2 pm on Saturday, June 17th. Bond is a well known singer-songwriter, author, painter, performance artist and actor working in New York City and beyond. Mx Bond, in addition to being a new Hudson Valley resident, has performed at multiple venues throughout the area, including organizing the popular Spiegeltent Cabaret at Bard College.

OutHudson co-founder John M. Schobel stated, “I am literally breathless at the idea that V will be the Grand Marshal or – as they prefer, Grand Marsha – of this year’s OutHudson Parade. The title honors Marsha P. Johnson, the transwoman of color who threw the first brick during The Stonewall Riots, one of the many reasons we celebrate Pride in June. This is one of the most important events for the LGBTQ+ community in Columbia County and the greater Hudson Valley, and there is no better spokes person than this staggeringly talented individual. Mx Bond is an inspiration to us all.”

The parade, which starts at 2 pm on Saturday, June 17, 2017, will proceed from Hudson’s Seventh Street Park down to Front Street. The parade attracts more than 40 marching groups, and more than 1,500 attendees. It will be accompanied by a full weekend of events. For more information, see www.OutHudson.com.

Mx Justin Vivian Bond is a trans-genre artist living in New York City. As a performer both on and Off-Broadway, Mx Bond has received numerous accolades winning an Obie (2001), a Bessie (2004), a Tony nomination (2007), the Ethyl Eichelberger Award (2007), The Peter Reed Foundation Grant, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant for Artists. V authored the Lambda Literary Award winning memoir TANGO: My Childhood, Backwards and in High Heels (The Feminist Press, 2011). For more information, see www.justinvivianbond.com.

OutHudson was formed to bring awareness of LBGTQ issues in Columbia County, NY. In addition to sponsoring multiple events throughout the year, it is the sponsor of the LGBTQ Pride Weekend in Hudson, NY on June 16-18. In early 2017, OutHudson is in the process of gaining its not-for-profit status to become a recognized 501(c)3 in the state of New York.